Game apparatus



March 12, 1940. N.P. VICKERY GAME APPARATUS Filed June 12, 1937 2Sheets-Sheet 1 March 12,1940.' N, R KERY 2,193,468

GAME APPARATUS Filed June 12, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ial/671:

Patented Mar. 12, 1940 UNITED STATES APPARATUS Norman P. Vic'kery,Keene, N. H.

Application .June 12, 1937, Serial No. 147,906

v 3 Claims;

This invention relates to games involving :the use of a -,conventionalgolf ball and putter. and relates more particularly to a game of thistype wherein the golf ball is propelled by .the putter .5 down an alleyprovided with a setof ten pins. I provide a tee at one end of the alleyand in the same horizontal plane as a pin plate at the opposite end ofthe alley, the pins being for-med of relatively light material and beingdesigned and arranged specifically for a golf ball of standard weightand dimensions.

The purpose of the game of my invention is to improve a golfers skill inthe art of putting through his necessarily varying the degree of forceapplied to the-ball to correspond to the varying degree of speedrequired coupled with accuracy and direction to topple a maximum numberof pins.

It is an object of my invention therefore to provide a game involvingthe .use (of aa conventional golf ball and putter adapted to improve agolfers skill in the art of putting.

Another object of my invention is to provide a game of this type whereinan alley and a set :of 26 ten pins are used and the alley is coveredwith a material simulating a grass putting surface.

Another object of my invent-ion is to provide a game of. the above typehaving an improved gutter bordering each .side of the alley andpinpla-te.

Another object of my invention is to provide a return means for:the'golf .ball including a bumper directing the ball to the approximatehitting position on the tee.

Another object of my invention-is to provide a game of the above typewherein the alley and associated parts comprise a number :of individualpieces substantially secured together whereby the pieces may be quicklyassembled or disassembled when changing from one location to another.

Another-object of my intention is to provide an improved pit at the endof the alley for a game of this type-adapted to cause the pins and ballto roll forwardly to be easily accessible by the pin boy.

Other objects of my invention and the invention itself will becomeincreasingly apparent in a consideration of the following descriptionand drawings wherein:

Fig. l. is a plan view of a ten pin alley embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a side ,elevational view of the alley illustrated in l;

Fig. 3 is a medial longitudinal sectional view of the alley of Fig. l;

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view taken along the line l-fl of Fig.1;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged transverse sectional view of the alley of Fig. 1showing the gutter construction; 1

Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary View showing the construction of theball return.

Referring now to the drawings, and particularly to Figs. 1 to 6inclusive, I have illustrated generally at It! a completely assembledalley ready 10 for use and comprising a central ball runway or alleyproper l I, a ,tGG'lDOI'tlOI'l ii, a pin plate '13, and a pit M. Thecentral runway or putting alley proper comprises flooring lbsupported bya plurality of transversely extending preferably Wood members Hi, themembers it having generally V-shaped notches formed at each-end as indiecated at H.

Side boards l8 abut the ends of the transverse members I6 and aresuitably secured thereto as .20

by nailing-or bolting, the side boards extending A above the level ofthe putting alley or flooring E5. The notch portions ll of members itsupport longitudinally extending preferably wood stripslfl'forming agutter or trough into which the ball may roll in leaving the alleyproper. It will be noted that the outer portion of the gutter isrelatively sharply upwardly inclined and that the base of the gutter isrelatively clos'eto the upstanding side board [8 so that there is littletendency for the ball to ride out of the gutter. The gutter extends fromthe tee portion 82 to the pit i l whereby the ball will be carried intothe pit. The side boards it are extended upwardly substantially at theinitiation of the pin plate is as indicated at 2B to join with a backboard 2d and the pit floor indicated at 22 which is tilted forwardly tocause the pins or ball to roll forwardly and be in an easilyaccessibleposition for the pin boy. The back board 2i includes a seat 2-3 fromwhich a back stop comprising sheet of flexible material 2t dependstoabsorb the force of the ball. Strip 24 is preferably rubber but anysuitable material may be used.

Secured to the outer side of one of the side boards I 8 is a ball return25 which initiates rearwardly adjacent the seat 23 withinconvenientreach of the pin boy and at the stop of the side board portion 20, thereturn is then curved relatively sharply downwardly, as indicated at 26and .50

is progressively lowered in a direction toward the tee portion l2. 1 p

The tee portion I2 is extended laterally on each side of the alley bytransversely extending sup port members 21 and flooring 28. The teeportion l2 and the alley flooring i5 is covered by carpeting or othersuitable material 29 simulating a grass putting surface, the carpetingfor the alley proper terminating at the pin plate 13 so that the ballleaves the carpeted surface just prior to striking the pins. The ballreturn is preferably formed of two transversely spaced similar paralleland confronting strips 3! having arouate ball engaging portions 32.supported at spaced intervals by brackets The forward end of the ballreturn engages a bafile 3t extending over the tee portion 62 and ofangular form whereby the golf ball after leaving the ball return will bedirected toward the center portion of the tee surface l2, the returnbeing so designed that sufficient impetus is imparted to the ball bygravity to carry the ball to the approximate hitting position on the teesurface.

Although any suitable dimension may be employed, I have found afterconsiderable experimentation that the following measurements provideconditions which require considerable skill to secure an arbitraryrating fixed in a manner to be hereinafter described.

Preferably the width of the putting alley proper is two feet and thedistance from the center of the tee portion l2 to the first pin at thepit end of the alley is approximately twenty feet. The pin plate 43 orthe surface on which the pins are disposed is preferably two feet squareand the pins are arranged so that the head of the first pin is sixinches from the end of the carpeted surface and the said carpet end mayserve as a junction marking the foul line for fallen pins, considered asdead wood. The back four pins are preferably 2 from the edge of the pitwith the two end pins of this group 3" from the side edges of the pinplate. The center of each pin spot is preferably six inches from thecenter of adjacent pin spots. I also find that a tee portion five feetin width by three feet in depth provides sumcient area for either aright or left handed player to stand in the usual position whileputting.

The manner of scoring which I have evolved as an indication of relativeskill will now be described. A player hits three balls, and marks downthe number of pins knocked down. If all of the pins are knocked downwith one ball, it is called a strike as in bowling and scored the sameway. Each three balls are considered a box and when ten boxes areplayed, the string is completed as in bowling and the player scoring thehighest number of pins knocked down is the winner of that string. Onehundred is an exceptionally good score for string and only an excellentputter can attain this score occasionally with the candlewood type pinsto be hereinafter described. However, the golf method of scoring is moreappealing to a golfer and is played by holes instead of boxes. Theplayer has three balls to hit for each hole. If all of the pins areknocked down with the first ball, it is considered a hole in. one andthe other two balls are not used. If all the pins are knocked down withtwo balls, the score is two for the hole. When all three balls are usedand all the pins fall, the score is three on the hole. When all theballs are used and one pin is left standing, the score for the hole isfour and any greater score is attained by adding the three balls to thepins left standing.

The players may also alternate on the tee for each hole to play matchplay wherein the most holes won in nine or eighteen holes, as agreed,determines the winner. Medal play where each nine holes is added up fora total can also be used to determine the winner and a score of 36 fornine holes is considered very good putting.

The aforementioned measurements may be considered as standard for a golfalley when a standard golf ball is used and the alley can only be usedfor home amusement when an exceptionally large room or hall isavailable. Inasmuch as there is nothing of a mechanical nature requiringa player to operate levers while playing or electrical score indicatingmeans, the entire attention of the player may be concentrated onachieving accuracy in putting.

Although I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of myinvention, I contemplate that numerous and extensive departures may bemade therefrom without departing from the spirit of my invention and thescope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A game alley adapted to have a golf ball propelled therealong, thealley comprising a tee end, a pin supporting surface and a puttingrunway intereonnecting said tee end and said pin supporting surface,longitudinally extending gutters on each side of the runway, the guttersbeing disposed below the surface of the runway,

the gutter portion more transversely remote from the runway beingrelatively sharply inclined upwardly and the gutter portion adjacent therunway joining the runway at a substantial distance below the rpnwaysurfaces, side boards extending a substantial distance above the uppertermination of the gutters, transversely extending support membersextending beneath the runway and projecting laterally beyond the runwaysides, the side boards being secured to the support members and abuttingthe ends thereof, the portions of the support members between the runwayand the side boards having a groove disposed therein, the groove sideadjacent the runway being relatively less sharply inclined than thegroove side adjacent the runway joining the runway at a substantialdistance below the runway surface and a plurality of longitudinallydisposed strips in the grooves connected to the support members.

2. A game alley adapted to have a golf ball propelled therealong, thealley comprising a tee end, a pit end, and an interconnecting puttingrunway, a pin plate of wood or the like material at the pit end of therunway, carpeting material or the like extending along the runway fromthe tee end to the pin plate and flush with the pin plate surface,longitudinally extending gutters on each side of the runway, the guttersbeing disposed below the surface of the runway and generally V-shaped incross section, the gutter V-portion more transversely remote from therunway being relatively sharply inclined upwardly, the gutter V -portionadjacent the runway joining the runway at a substantial distance belowthe runway surfaces, transversely extending support members extendingbeneath the runway and projecting laterally beyond the runway sides, theside boards being secured to the support members and abutting the endsthereof, the portions of the support members between the runway and theside boards having a generally V-form groove therein, the groove sideadjacent the runway being inclined at an angle substantially less than45 and the groove side adjacent the side board being inclined at anangle substantially in excess of 45 the groove side adjacent the runwayjoining the runway at a substantial distance below the runway surfaceand a plurality of longitudi- 10 from the tee end to the pin supportingsurface and flush with said surface whereby the ball is frictionallyretarded along the runway and the pins are free to slide on the pinsupporting surface,

longitudinally extending gutters extending on each side of the runway,the gutters being dis posed below the surface of the runway, the gutterportion more transversely remote from the runway being relativelysharply inclined upwardly and the gutter portion adjacent the runwayjoining the runway at a substantial distance below the runway surfaces,said gutters adapted to receive such balls as may be directed to thesides of the 10 runway.

NORMAN P. VICKERY.

